Motor Industry News

British motorists turning their backs on volatile petrol car market, says car manufacturer

Figures show that an increasing number of UK motorists are opting out of the petrol car market and turning to Liquid Petroleum gas (LPG).

With petrol prices again on the rise and LPG costing around half that of petrol, LPG sales figures from Proton reflect consumers changing attitudes.

An AA report released this week showed that over a quarter of motorists are using their cars less as the result of the unstable market.

The cost of converting a car to run on LPG currently costs between £1,500 and £2,000.

Proton reported a 375 per cent in sales in it LPG powered GEN-2 ecoLogic sales last month.

Simon Park, sales director at Proton UK, said: "LPG gives motorists the best of both worlds. It has been proved to be more eco-friendly than petrol and diesel and also it costs almost half the price to run."

Typically, LPG produces less carbon monoxide, particulates and nitrous oxides than other fuel sources, plus a 15 to 20 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide compared to petrol.

The production of LPG can also boast environmentally-friendly credentials as it is a by-product of the extraction and refining of crude oil.

At a hydrogen and fuel cells conference in Canada this week, experts from the motoring industry outlined how there was no silver bullet in pursuit of a greener industry claiming that the future will see a mix of electrical cars, hydrogen fuel cell cars and bio-fuels.